
EPCIS Standard
Release 2.0, Ratified, Jun 2022 © 2021-2022 GS1 AISBL Page 24 of 229
interfaces (green bars in the middle) shield the data capture workflow from low-level hardware details of exactly how the data carriers work. The lowest
level interfaces (green bars on the bottom) embody those internal data carrier details. EPCIS and the “Share” layer in general differ from elements in the
Capture layer in three key respects:
1. EPCIS deals explicitly with historical data (in addition to current data). The Capture layer, in contrast, is oriented exclusively towards real-time
processing of captured data.
2. EPCIS often deals not just with raw data captured from data carriers such as barcodes and RFID tags, but also in contexts that imbue those
observations with meaning relative to the physical or digital world and to specific steps in operational or analytical business processes. The Capture
layers are more purely observational in nature. An EPCIS event, while containing much of the same “Identify” data as a Filtering & Collection event or
a barcode scan, is at a semantically higher level because it incorporates an understanding of the business context in which the identifier data were
obtained. Moreover, there is no requirement that an EPCIS event be directly related to a specific physical data carrier observation. For example, an
EPCIS event may indicate that a perishable trade item has just crossed its expiration date; such an event may be generated purely by software.
3. EPCIS operates within enterprise IT environments at a level that is much more diverse and multi-purpose than exists at the Capture layer, where
typically systems are self-contained and exist to serve a single business purpose. In part, and most importantly, this is due to the desire to share
EPCIS data between enterprises which are likely to have different solutions deployed to perform similar tasks. In part, it is also due to the persistent
nature of EPCIS data. And lastly, it is due to EPCIS being at the highest level of the overall architecture, and hence the natural point of entry into
other enterprise systems, which vary widely from one enterprise to the next (or even within parts of the same enterprise).
2.3 EPCIS in Relation to trading partners
GS1 standards in the “Share” layer pertain to three categories of data that are shared between end users:
Data Description GS1 standards
Master data Data, shared by one trading partner to many trading partners, that provide descriptive attributes of real-world entities
identified by GS1 identification keys, including trade items, parties, and physical locations.
GDSN
Transaction data Trade transactions triggering or confirming the execution of a function within a business process as defined by an explicit
business agreement (e.g., a supply contract) or an implicit one (e.g., customs processing), from the start of the business
process (e.g., ordering the product) to the end of it (e.g., final settlement), also making use of GS1 identification keys.
GS1 XML
EANCOM
Visibility event data Details about physical or digital activity in the supply chain of products and other assets, identified by keys, detailing where
these objects are in time, and why; not just within one organisation’s four walls, but across organisations.
EPCIS
Transaction Data and Visibility Event Data have the characteristic that new documents of those types are continually created as more business is
transacted in a supply chain in steady state, even if no new real-world entities are being created. Master data, in contrast, is more static: the master data
for a given entity changes very slowly (if at all), and the quantity of master data only increases as new entities are created, not merely because existing
entities participate in business processes. For example, as a given trade item instance moves through the supply chain, new transaction data and visibility
event data are generated as that instance undergoes business transactions (such as purchase and sale) and physical handling processes (packing, picking,
stocking, etc.). But new master data is only created when a new trade item or location is added to the supply chain.